The Tribune

A STATE-RECOGNISED memorial service will be held on Saturday for the late senator and veteran hotelier J Barrie Farrington.

A statement from the Cabinet Office said the service will be held at 1pm at Christ Church Cathedral on George Street. Cremation will follow.

Mr Farrington’s body will lie-in-state in the foyer of the Senate today from 9am to 3pm.

The memorial service will air live on the ZNS radio network.

Mr Farrington died last week after a long battle with cancer.

He spent 41 years at Atlantis on Paradise Island, which bore many other names over the years.

In 1995, Mr Farrington was named Hotelier of the Year and in 1997, Queen Elizabeth II honoured him with the prestigious title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

He received the Clement T Maynard Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008 for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of tourism. He was also a lifetime director of the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association.

Mr Farrington, 85, served as president of the Bahamas Hotel Employers’ Association for 31 years. He was chairman of the Bahamas Hotel Industry Management Pension Fund for seven years and a trustee of the Bahamas Hotel Allied Industries Pension Fund for more than 30 years.

In 2018, he spoke with The Tribune about his battle with hairy cell leukaemia, prostate cancer and breast cancer.

In 2019, he published a memoir of his life, entitled “The Commander of Hawkins Hill”, which he had hoped to put on sale to raise funds for the Cancer Society.